


Photograph

by voices_in_my_head



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Birthday Present
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-15
Updated: 2015-03-15
Packaged: 2018-03-18 00:35:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3549449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voices_in_my_head/pseuds/voices_in_my_head
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"The worst thing about trusting someone is that you start laying your guard down. Start forgetting you're not alone and do stuff that you usually don't do in the company of others. Such as, for instance, start singing."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Photograph

**Author's Note:**

> This is a late birthday present for Luisa, who requested Aomido karaoke. So, here, have some karaoke (and then some more stuff, because why not?). I hope that you have many more amazing birthdays :)

The worst thing about trusting someone is that you start laying your guard down. Start forgetting you're not alone and do stuff that you usually don't do in the company of others. Such as, for instance, start singing.

It's something Shintaro was quite good at, he was aware, but it wasn't something he felt very comfortable doing in public. He wasn't usually a nervous person, but when everyone was looking at him... it was different from playing basketball; even if you had a horrible team, you still weren't alone, but singing... sure, if it was with a band, there would be some attention on them too, but alone? Just thinking about a crowd looking at him made his hands sweat.

But going back to the point of trusting people and starting to let your guard down around them. This had started happening with Shintaro around Takao, and in the beginning he hadn't minded that much. The other teen could be extremely annoying, but he was also one of the most caring people he knew and Shintaro knew he had a difficult temper, so he tried his best not to alienate the people who actually wanted to put up with his quirks. That said, it had still been a surprise (and he wasn't sure which of them had been the most surprised) when he'd started singing when they'd been the only two left inside Shutoku's gym.

For one second he'd forgotten there was someone else there and he'd just... let go. He didn't sing very loudly or anything like that, it was at a very low volume; if Takao hadn't stopped dribbling, he probably wouldn't have heard. But he had stopped and Shintaro had sung an entire song while making shots without remembering he wasn't alone. When he'd stopped, Takao had, of course, started clapping and Shintaro couldn't help but to blush because it had been a long time since he'd sung with people around who weren't his family.

“You sing really well, Shin-chan. You should do it more often,” Takao had said, not a sign of mocking in his voice and Shintaro had thanked him after adjusting his glasses with one finger (and everyone knew that was his nervous tic) and that had been it. Takao had never brought it up in public, and Shintaro had sung some more when it was just the two of them (once or twice Takao had even requested special songs).

Of course, it had been stupid to believe Takao would just never bring it up when they were with people; especially when they were at a karaoke bar.

Now, why exactly were they at a karaoke bar? Because Momoi had decided that now that the Winter Cup was over and everyone was back in Tokyo they should “mend their relationships” (her words) and so had started to organize several events for the Generation of Miracles to meet up (and to bring some friends, if they wanted). The first had been, not surprisingly, a basketball game and the only reason Shintaro had invited Takao was because they needed him to make it an even number, since adding Kagami and Himuro (who were apparently brothers. Adopted brothers? Shintaro wasn't exactly sure in what their relationship consisted of) had made them seven and Momoi never played against them, mostly because she said they played too hard (of course only Aomine was stupid enough to say something like, “girls are weak”). Unfortunately, Momoi decided that since Takao was now friends with Shintaro, he was more than welcome to appear at the remaining events, which Takao had accepted gleefully and for other people maybe the glint in his eyes would have just seemed happy, but Shintaro had been around him for almost a year. He knew Takao was planning something.

Turned out, he was one hundred percent right. Takao had been the one to approach Momoi with the idea of going to a karaoke bar and of course the pink-haired girl had accepted (she loved to sing, but as with cooking, she really wasn't that good at it) and so here they were. At a karaoke bar, with everyone arguing about which song they were singing, because apparently Shintaro was the only one that did not want to sing.

“Come on, Midorimacchi, everyone is singing! You have to!” Of course Kise was the one grabbing onto his arm, trying to convince him by using the puppy eye dogs he'd been copying off Kuroko for years (but that really didn't work on him).

“No,” Shintaro repeated, but he was pretty sure that no one was going to let him not do it, not unless he simply walked away, and that would probably put a damper to their night, especially for Momoi, who was being so nice in arranging all of this and oh no, now it was Kuroko making the eyes.

“You should join in, Midorima-kun. You might have fun.”

“Of course he'll have fun,” Takao immediately barged in and he was lucky Aomine was between them, otherwise he would already have a lot of bruises forming. As it was, Shintaro simply glared at him. “Come on, I'll choose the music.”

“No,” Shintaro repeated and on this he would not budge. Knowing Takao he would either choose the stupidest song ever or the dirtiest. Maybe both.

“Don't you trust me?” Takao asked with a great sigh, putting a hand on top of his chest and Shintaro had known that introducing him to Kise would be a mistake. “I promise not to choose anything bad. Scout's honour.”

“You were never a scout,” Shintaro answered, even though he didn't actually know that for a fact, but judging by Takao's look he was definitely right.

“You can choose mine!” Takao said, but Shintaro simply gave the same answer. Nothing would make him change his mind.

“Yes!” Momoi said, which made everyone look at her because what Takao had said did not deserve such an excited response. “We should choose each other's songs. We write our name in a paper and the one that gets us, chooses the song.”

Shintaro wanted to say no but unfortunately Akashi was faster than him. “That sounds acceptable.”

“But we have to make rules,” Kagami started, “no dirty songs,” Kise and Aomine immediately started arguing, and Shintaro knew there was a reason he didn't hate Kagami.

“That's understandable,” Akashi said, and the other two immediately stopped their arguing, even if Shintaro could still hear Aomine grumbling under his breath.

“Ok, let's write our names!” Shintaro still wanted to run away but Momoi was just looking too happy; he would feel immensely guilty for ruining her mood, so with a sigh he accepted the piece of paper she handed him.

In less than ten seconds Momoi had all the papers in her hands, and after moving them a bit, she started handing them out, “if you get your name, you have to change.”

“Yes!” Takao said when he opened his paper and with a giant smile turned to Shintaro with the paper that had the name “Midorima Shintaro” written carefully. Shintaro sighed, but didn't say anything. He didn't completely believe Takao would choose something terrible, if anything, he was a bit afraid he would choose one of the songs he had heard him singing, since they had all been American songs that were considered... romantic, he guessed. Not that the reason he'd been singing them around Takao was because he wanted to be romantic towards the other (Shintaro might be gay, but he did not feel any attraction towards his friend), they were simply catchy (his sister was always playing them, alright? It wasn't like he was the one that went looking for them).

Shintaro's paper simply said “Aomine” and not in the most legible characters.

“I can go first!” Momoi said, “who has my name?”

“I do!” Kise exclaimed, also sounding excited and really those two could start a party just by themselves. However, add Takao and it would turn into a disaster.

“I'm going to find you the perfect song, Momoichi,” Kise said and didn't wait for a reply before he was flying out of the chair to find for a song.

“Who has my name?” Kagami asked.

“I do,” Akashi said and Kagami's face went through different emotions, like he wasn't sure if he should feel glad about that fact or not.

“And I have yours, Akachin,” Murasakibara said and went back to sucking a lollipop.

“And I have yours,” Momoi said with a smile.

“You should give him the song “Candy shop”,” Aomine said with a smirk and besides him Takao choked on air.

“We said no dirty songs,” Kagami said.

“What? It's just about licking-” Aomine started but was stopped by Kise coming back with a big grin.

“I got it!” He said with a big smile.

“What is it?” Momoi said, and while she sounded excited, Shintaro was pretty sure there was a small glint of fear in her eyes too. No one was stupid enough to trust Kise one hundred percent.

“Diamonds by Rihanna.”

“Oh, I like that. Thank you,” Momoi said with a relieved smile.

“I want to go next! Who has my name?” Kise asked with a smile, looking at everyone's faces. His smile diminished just a bit when he saw who was raising the paper with his name.

“I know just the perfect song for you,” Aomine said and then he was getting up and walking to the table where the computer with the songs they could choose were. Once everyone else before them had sung, their names would be called.

He refused to reveal which song he'd chosen and the next few minutes were spent with one of them getting up at one at a time to go and choose. Shintaro was the last, right after Takao, who like Aomine, did not say which song he'd chosen.

Most songs on the list were American, and the few Japanese ones were... really not what Shintaro could imagine Aomine singing. Not that he could imagine the other boy singing any of these songs, really.

All the most popular songs of the last couple of years were there but he still couldn't choose. “Let her Go” by Passenger? Shintaro wasn't that big of a fan of it, but he didn't think Aomine would have such a hard time singing it. “Impossible” by James Arthur? A bit too romantic, perhaps, but again, not that hard to sing. “Demons” by Imagine Dragons? Okay, Shintaro couldn't really see Aomine singing it. Oh. That one. He thought Aomine could do a good job with it.

He picked it with the mouse and then walked back to the table, refusing to tell Aomine what he'd chosen (right now the only ones that knew what they were going to be singing were Momoi, Kuroko and Akashi).

Momoi went first, as had been decided. Surprisingly, she didn't sing half as badly as Shintaro had been expecting. Not that she sounded that good, but at least no one put their hands on top of their ears.

Next went Kise, who left the first verse go by without singing, and sent a dirty look at Aomine's direction, but once he got the hang of it he immediately started singing “Single Ladies” and even added some of the moves (again, Shintaro's sister liked that sort of music, not him).

Afterwards it was Kagami's turn with “Impossible” and he didn't sing it half badly. It probably had to do with the fact that he'd lived in the States for several years (the big problem with most of them was without a doubt the horrible accents they sang with).

Kuroko went next and for some reason Kagami had chosen Adele's “Set fire to the rain” for him. Shintaro couldn't tell if there was a hidden message there or not.

Then it was Murasakibara and why had Momoi chosen Lorde's “Royals”? First of all, that was much more fitting for Akashi and second of all, Murasakibara had a pretty deep voice. So it really didn't come as a surprise when he completely butchered the song. Well, he would have if he had actually sung the song. Instead he hummed most of it, only singing the refrain.

Then it was Akashi and hearing him singing Sam Sparro's “Black and Gold” brought back memories. It had been Akashi's favourite song for most of their years spent at Teiko and even though he didn't sing it that well, Shintaro could tell that it brought memories back to everyone who remembered that time. By the looks on Takao's and Kagami's faces it seemed they too knew the song had a special meaning.

Finally it was Takao's turn but Shintaro didn't get to see him embarrassing himself, mostly because the other had no shyness, so he truly did sing Imagine Dragon's “On top of the world” like he was on top of the world. Again, was Kuroko trying to send some message?

Then it was Shintaro getting up and... oh, he knew that song. He knew it very well, actually, seeing as it was the one he sung most often.

Loving can hurt  
Loving can hurt sometimes  
But it's the only thing that I know

Ed Sheeran's music was what one would call guilty pleasure, if Shintaro accepted such nonsense as feeling guilty about something you enjoyed listening to. “Photograph” was one of his favourites and he actually felt comfortable singing it.

He could see some people starting to pay attention to him (which had not happened with the others) and he tried to look away to his group of friends, or he would probably mess something up. The first set of eyes he found were Aomine's and he looked... attentive. He looked serious, not smiling, but he didn't look mad, just like he was paying attention; attention that didn't have the objective of turning mocking or hurtful at a moment's notice like it had so many times happened during the last year at Teiko and that brought back memories.

Memories of their first year and Shintaro had almost forgotten about them (or tried to, anyway). He kept singing the words, not really looking at the screen showing them, but his mind wasn't there anymore. Instead he was remembering the looks the two of them had shared during first year.

When they had met they hadn't been friends. And that hadn't changed over the years, even though they'd been classmates in addition to being team mates. But there had been something there... you could say they had been each other's first crushes. The two of them had been aware that there was an interest there that wasn't like what they felt for the rest of their team mates (team mates that had definitely been aware, but that had usually been too nice to mock them about it), but well, they'd been twelve, so they hadn't done anything about it. Maybe they could have done something in the second or third year, when they'd grown a bit older, but by then it wasn't just their age that had changed. They were different people and by the end of their middle school life the shared looks were just a thing of the past.

And now he couldn't stop thinking about it, and he was definitely blaming it on the song.

We keep this love in a photograph  
We made these memories to ourselves

There had never been any love between them. All Shintaro could call Aomine was an “almost” and that sounded kind of sad, right?

He sang the last minute of the song with his eyes closed. He wished his feelings of regret would have disappeared by the time he opened his eyes but they hadn't. Again, he was blaming this on Ed Sheeran but since it seemed highly improbably he would ever get a chance of revenge, he would instead place the blame on Takao.

People clapped for him and it didn't sound polite like it had been for all the others; instead it sounded like people had actually enjoyed it. One girl even screamed for him to sing another, but with a blush he quickly went back to the table.

He passed through Aomine on the way there, who had just been called to the stage and they shared a look and Shintaro tried to remember real quick if there was anything suggestive in Justin Timberlake's “Mirrors.”

By the time he was sitting he had in fact remembered exactly what “Mirrors” was about. Fantastic, he'd chosen an incredibly romantic song for Aomine.

No one said anything to him since Aomine's song was starting and Shintaro couldn't remember if he had ever heard the other teen singing.

He didn't do it half badly. He wasn't perfect, he missed some notes, and his English definitely needed some improving, but he wasn't bad. He didn't hide himself. Didn't make a spectacle like Takao or Kise either, but it was obvious he didn't feel ashamed or timid being the centre of attentions.

He even danced just a bit up there and Shintaro couldn't keep his eyes off him. He hoped no one was noticing it (but with a group that consisted of Akashi, Momoi, Kuroko and Takao that seemed highly unlikely).

Aomine did not end with the “ohh” of Timberlake, just with, “my mirror staring back at, staring back at me” and then people were clapping and he was bowing with a big smile.

He sat back down besides Shintaro and for just one second Shintaro thought he had imagined the whole thing, that all those feelings he'd just remembered had all been imagination but then he felt Aomine's knee bump into his and when the other teen didn't pull away, he looked sideways at Aomine, and the other teen was talking to Kise (or more precisely, arguing with him) about “Single Ladies” and Shintaro gave a small smile, but didn't pull away either, instead started a conversation with Momoi and Akashi and some minutes later he had basically forgotten all about Aomine's knee.

Kise and Takao were the only persons on their group that went back for seconds, and in Kise's case, even thirds, and Shintaro had almost forgotten how karaoke had always been Kise's main hobby. The songs they chose for themselves weren't that bad, and so the night continued uneventfully.

No one got into fights, at least not bad ones – Kagami and Aomine seemed to be incapable of sharing the same space without arguing, and maybe that was why Momoi and Kuroko had tried so hard in the beginning of the night to make sure they didn't end up sitting besides each other.

It was almost eleven pm when conversation started stilling and Kuroko put a hand in front of his mouth to stop a yawn from escaping and after that they all started to get up and say their goodbyes.

Shintaro and Takao left the bar together; they lived close to each other and had decided to take the same bus (Takao had said he was not driving the rickshaw during the holidays) home.

“I like your friends, Shin-chan,” Takao said after they were some distance away from the bar and Shintaro looked sideways at him. Takao looked relaxed, walking with his hands in his pockets.

Shintaro wanted to say, “they're not my friends” but that didn't feel right. They might not be best friends, but he could no longer call the others just acquaintances, could never call them just that, really.

“Not going to deny that you're friends? I'm shocked, Shin-chan.”

“Don't make a big deal out of it, Takao.”

“Whatever you say, Shin-chan,” Takao said and once again Shintaro looked at him, and found the other boy smiling brightly at him. The second Shintaro was back at looking ahead he felt Takao's shoulder against his sternum (he had probably been looking to bump shoulders, but due to their height difference, that was impossible). “So...”

“What is it?” Shintaro asked, even if he really didn't want to hear the answer. Takao's tone promised nothing good, at least not for him.

“You and Aomine... I gotta say, I never thought the two of you were interested in each other, but then again I never really saw you two spend that much time together.”

“What are you talking about?” Shintaro asked, after pushing his glasses up, but he knew there was no way Takao would just drop the subject.

“Don't even try to lie to me! I saw you two looking at each other. So, what happened? Were you two boyfriends and broke up? Going by your looks, I don't think either of you would be opposed to getting back together.”

“We never dated,” Shintaro said and immediately regretted it. He was supposed to be trying to make Takao forget this idea, not feed it!

“Oh no, are you two star crossed lovers? Wanting to be together but being stopped by... basketball,” Shintaro could hear the laughter in Takao's tone and really, he should have accepted when Akashi had offered him a ride home. Let Takao go home alone and get mugged.

“Why would we be stopped by basketball?” Shintaro really had been spending too much time around the other teen. That or the alcoholic beverage Kise had convinced him to drink had actually had some effect.

“Because now you're rivals! You love each other, but you also love basketball, and you're afraid that if you go against each other you won't do your best. What if you break up because of that?”

“We're not dating, and you're already thinking of us breaking up?” Really Shintaro, why were you indulging Takao?

“But you want to, right? Come on, admit it. I won't tell anyone.”

“There's nothing to admit,” Shintaro said and was glad when his voice didn't shake. He was also glad they were walking and so he didn't have to look in Takao's eyes.

“You're such a bad liar, Shin-chan. You know, I think he likes you too. He didn't take his eyes off you when you were singing.”

“He and half the bar,” Shintaro said and okay, so maybe he hadn't completely hated the attention his singing had brought him.

“Yes, but none of them had hearts in their eyes.”

“This isn't an anime, Takao; people can't have hearts in their eyes.”

Takao sighed, “fine, be like that. But I'll prove it to you. Actually, I'll help you.”

Shintaro stopped and with a hand on Takao's arm forced him to turn around until they were looking in each other's eyes.

“You will not involve yourself.”

“So there is something?” Takao asked with a glint and Shintaro just glared. Takao sighed, “fine, I won't do anything.”

Shintaro let go, but regretted it immediately because Takao sent him a grin that promised evil things.

“I won't, unless by the end of the week you haven't done anything.”

“You-” Shintaro started but Takao simply kept on.

“Come on, Shin-chan, this is what friends do for each other. I tell you Aomine likes you too, give you courage to do something about it, applause you if things end well, and if not, then buy you cartons of ice-cream and then we can watch “The Notebook” together.”

Shintaro sighed at that, knowing that there was nothing he could do to make the other change his mind. “I hate the Notebook,” he said and started walking again.

“Ah, so you have seen it? I knew you were a romantic at heart, Shin-chan.”

.

Day 3 of the week Momoi had planned was planned to happen in an amusement park and it had been years since Shintaro had been to one.

He went alone, since Takao had a family gathering he couldn't miss, and was the fourth to arrive. Momoi, Aomine and Akashi were already waiting at the entrance.

“Hello,” he said when he was close enough to be heard, to which Momoi and Akashi greeted back. Aomine just nodded.

“Where's Takao-kun?” Momoi asked.

“He has a family gathering.”

“Oh, that's a shame. He's a lot of fun,” she said with a smile and Shintaro couldn't help but notice that Aomine sent a glare to the bush he'd been looking at, at that. Apparently he wasn't the only one noticing because Momoi sent a smirk Aomine's way (who still wasn't looking at them) and oh, so maybe they really had been obvious last night.

“What about you, Midorin? Did you have fun?” She asked him.

“Yes.”

“You sang very well. Takao-kun made a good choice,” the glare was back and Aomine had probably done something to her, to get her this mad. Momoi's revenge was always amusing to see, unless of course, you where on the other end of it.

Shintaro just nodded, but Momoi's smile told him she wasn't done yet. Aomine must have really done something bad.

“I wonder how he knew you were going to sing Photograph so well. Perhaps he's heard you sing before?”

At that Aomine finally turned and now he had three sets of eyes looking at him. Momoi looked curious, but it was obvious she was more interested in picking on Aomine than the actual answer, Akashi just looked amused and Aomine... Aomine looked like he was trying to pretend to be bored, uninterested in the answer, but wasn't doing that well of a job.

To ease things Shintaro should probably lie and say “it was just luck” but he was a terrible liar, so a lie would just make it seem like he had something to hide.

“I sometimes sing when we're practising.”

“Really? You never used to do that at Teiko, Midorin, unless you were alone,” she gave a little laugh, “I'm sorry, I sometimes spied on you. I just got curious about what you did for so many hours in the gym. You must trust Takao very much.”

“Satsuki, that's enough,” Akashi said and Momoi blinked at him, but acquiesced with a smile and changed the subject, talking instead about Toou's new captain.

Unfortunately the damage had already been done. Aomine was glaring at the ground and Shintaro wasn't sure how he could stop that look.

In less than two minutes they were joined by Kuroko and Murasakibara, dragging Kagami and Himuro with them, respectively.

“Why did you decided at doing this so early? I could be sleeping right now,” Kagami said and Shintaro could see Aomine's urge to say, “me too”. However, the urge to not be in agreement with the red-haired boy outweighed and he remained silent.

“Kagami-kun should be more used at waking up early.”

“And I am; for practise. Which is why I'd like to enjoy my mornings free of practise sleeping.”

“You didn't have to come,” and there it was, Aomine was already starting trouble.

“I was invited, and some of us weren't raised in a barn,” Kagami said and acting like a child, actually stuck his tongue out.

Aomine glared and Shintaro could already see a potential fight breaking out, as could most of the people around them (Murasakibara was probably the only one that was more interested in other things, probably planning all the sweets he was going to eat that day and Shintaro felt bad for his dentist, he really did), but luckily Kise arrived in that moment to dissipate, or at least try to, the tension.

“Hi! This was a great idea, Momoicchi. I haven't been to an amusement park in years!”

“I've never been to a Japanese one, so I'm looking forward for it. Thank you for the invitation, Momoi-san,” Himuro said, which made Momoi blush and then Kise was asking him about America and eventually they all started walking towards the place where they could buy their tickets to enter.

Shintaro really couldn't say if it was on purpose or not but somehow he ended up in the end of the line, walking besides Aomine, who was no longer glaring at bushes, but didn't look that relaxed either.

He wanted to ask what the other boy had done to upset Momoi but the way Aomine was walking told him that pretty much nothing he said would be received with less than an aggressive remark. Since they still had several hours to spend together, Shintaro decided to simply let it go.

Over the next few hours Shintaro started to forget his worry for Aomine, and even his feelings that might be emerging (which was kind of unfair – when one got over one's crush, that crush should remain gone) started being left behind as he spent the day with his friends (yes, he was capable of calling the others friends, even Kagami), going on different rides, playing stupid games (which turned into competitions most times) and eating junk food.

It was almost six pm when they were once again all standing in front of the entrance, saying their goodbyes or waiting for their rides. Since the amusement park was a walking distance from his house, Shintaro once again declined Akashi's offer for a ride.

He hadn't been walking for over a minute when he heard steps trying to catch up, so he stopped and turned around. To his surprise (or maybe not that much) it was Aomine running up to him.

“Weren't you going home with Akashi and Momoi?” Shintaro asked once the other had stopped just a few feet from him.

“Momoi said I'd eaten too much sugar and that I needed to walk off the calories,” he answered with a roll of his eyes.

Shintaro blinked slowly because truly, this was becoming ridiculous.

Aomine sighed and then put a hand on his neck, rubbing it, “so you've realized what she's trying to do?”

“She was being very obvious,” Shintaro replied. “This morning, what did you tell her to make her mad?”

Aomine rolled his eyes, “nothing that serious. I just told her that she'd sounded like a cat dying when she sang.”

Again, Shintaro blinked slowly. And then once more. Finally he said, “you're an idiot.”

“It's true!”

“One, she did not sing that badly and two, even if she had, you shouldn't say things like that.”

“Because she has blackmail on me?”

“Because it hurts her feelings,” Shintaro said, stressing the words. “And she has blackmail on all of us,” he added and then turned around. When he realized he was walking alone he turned around, and found Aomine just standing there with his hands on his pockets, looking a bit lost. “Aren't you coming?”

“Yeah, sure,” the other said and quickly caught up.

They set a moderate passing, not too fast but not too slow; with their long legs they'd have to make an effort to walk slowly.

“What is the plan for tomorrow?”

“Ice skating,” Aomine answered and the smile he gave him told him he was excited about it. Shintaro, who had only gone twice and both occasions had fallen on his ass, did not share that excitement. Maybe he could say he was sick? “Don't even try it.”

“What?” Shintaro asked, but didn't even try to put an innocent look on his face.

“I know you're thinking of skipping,” Aomine pushed his shoulder into his and contrary to what happened everytime Takao tried the same, their shoulders actually bumped. “I was there that time you fell, remember? This time it won't go as bad.”

“You don't know that. And last time there wasn't Takao to take photos of it,” he said with a grimace. He couldn't help but to notice with some interest how a frown immediately took over Aomine's face at the mention of Takao. He sighed and wondered if he should actually try to start a conversation between them, like actual grown-ups, or just continue to go on like this; pretending nothing was happening. Then again, Takao had promised to take matters into his own hands if nothing happened in a week's time and really, no one wanted that.

So, he decided to take the higher route, which didn't include Takao, and stopped walking. He could have stopped Aomine with a hand on his arm, but instead decided to let the other one realize he was now walking alone, which he did, just two steps afterwards. He turned around to Shintaro.

Aomine was still frowning, but when he opened his mouth nothing came out. So he closed it and sighed.

They were in the middle of a side walk, but it was mostly deserted, so people just went around them if they wanted to pass through them. Still, it wasn't the most comfortable setting for whatever conversation they were about to have.

Where should he start? So hey, remember how we had crushes on each other when we were twelve? Yeah, I'm pretty sure we still have them. Wait, were they still the same crushes? Or had they disappeared and now these were new crushes? Stop thinking so much, Shintaro, he told himself.

“So...” Aomine finally started, running a hand through his neck and looking at the ground. He looked up at Shintaro, but in less than a second was back at looking at the floor.

Shintaro had to stop himself from making a mean remark about how Aomine wasn't even capable of pulling a sentence together. That would definitely lead to nowhere good.

“What's going on?” He finally asked, because questions forced people to think and actually come up with an answer. Whether the answer would be good or not, remained to be seen.

“I... I don't know,” Aomine started, and at least he was finally looking at Shintaro's face. Not his eyes, no, just his forehead, but at least it was a start. “You sang really well.”

Shintaro opened his mouth to ask, “that's it?” but decided that that wasn't what he needed to say. So he closed it and just went back at studying Aomine, who was now looking a bit to the right of his face. Why was Shintaro always the grown-up in situations like these? A grown-up that was not going to say “my singing made you realize you're in love with me?” no matter what his mental Takao was saying.

“We don't know each other,” he started and Aomine finally deigned himself to look him in the eyes. He was frowning. “I think that we've spent more hours together these last few days then we did during third year at Teiko, not counting classes and official games.”

Aomine was still frowning, but he wasn't denying it.

“I don't know what you want,” Shintaro concluded.

“I don't know what I want,” Aomine said after some seconds in silence. Shintaro opened his mouth to say something in response, not exactly sure what, but Aomine kept talking. “You played the piano at Teiko all the time. I went to hear you play every week and one time you sang.” Shintaro frowned, he didn't remember that. Well, he remembered singing once in a while, but he certainly didn't remember Aomine being there. “Yeah, I don't think you knew I was there. Anyway, that was when I started really looking at you.”

“Because I sing well.”

“You play the piano well,” Aomine counter-acted and Shintaro frowned again. This wasn't going like he'd been expecting. “Hearing you play didn't make me like you. You played well but...” Aomine shrugged, “I don't know, it felt like you were playing for another reason than just enjoying it. But when you sang...” He shrugged again, “I can't explain it. It was amazing and I went to that music classroom pretty much everyday in hopes you'd sing again. You never did but I'd still fallen for you.”

“Are you saying you've been harbouring a crush on me all these years?” Shintaro would have liked to say his voice had sounded perfectly normal, but that would be lying. As it was, it was sounding just a bit shaken.

Aomine shrugged. “I don't know. I stopped thinking so much about you in second year, and by the third... things were different and I just... stopped caring. But, I don't know, hearing you sing...” he was scratching his neck again and that was the Aomine he remembered, not the smug one, not the angry one, but the one that blushed easily and that had stammered when saying anything to Shintaro that went beyond a “hello”. Of course, Shintaro couldn't exactly mock him, since he'd been the same.

Shintaro felt like he should probably say something in response, telling him of his feelings, but his stomach contracted just at that thought. Shintaro wasn't good at exposing his feelings. Still, Aomine deserved that so taking a deep breath, trying to gain some courage, he opened his mouth.

“I liked you for your passion. When you played basketball, it was like you were in Heaven, like you didn't need anything else in the world to be happy. That was why I liked you, but that changed after second year and right now, I don't know if I like you. Shintaro looked him in the eyes. Maybe Aomine didn't want to hear what he had to say, but that wouldn't change it. Aomine had been coddled for too long. “You're rude, lazy, mean, you think you're above everyone else and I don't like that.”

“You want me to change?” Aomine's expression told him exactly what he thought of that.

“No, if you want to change, then do it for yourself, not for me. I'm just being honest,” he took a step forward, “you changed, I changed, we all did. I just don't know if who we are now are as compatible as who we were then.”

Aomine looked him in the eyes, and Shintaro wasn't sure what to call the look in his eyes.

“Your favourite food is red bean soup, you hate cats, you cook almost as bad as Satsuki, you hate Natto and your best subjects in school were Chemistry and Biology,” Shintaro was staring at him with raised eyebrows by the time he was finished. Aomine shrugged, “we spent three years together. I didn't spend the whole time sleeping. And I don't like everything about you either. So what? If I thought you were perfect, that would be pretty boring. I'm not in love with you. I don't even know if I have a crush or I just like to hear you sing,” Aomine shrugged again, “so what? We don't need to decide anything right now, make promises to marry each other when we're older or some shit like that. I'd like for us to go out. Together and alone.”

“Like a date?” Shintaro interrupted.

Aomine nodded. “Maybe we'll want a second one, maybe we'll decide we're just friends and maybe we'll hate each other afterwards. We don't go to the same school; we won't have to see each other everyday. So, what do you say?”

Shintaro squinted. “I still don't like you that much.”

Aomine raised an eyebrow, “is that a yes?”

Shintaro rolled his eyes, “yes, fine, let's go on a date. I choose the place.”

“Wouldn't have it any other way,” Aomine replied with a smirk and Shintaro glared. This was either going to be the biggest mistake of his life or the best decision. Either way, at least Takao wouldn't have the chance to take matters into his hands, which was what was important. Shintaro had seen him playing matchmaker, it had been awful beyond words.

He started walking and Aomine immediately got into step. “Just so you know, I'm better at Physics than Chemistry now.”

“Yeah?” Aomine looked at him, “I still suck at both.”

Shintaro snorted. At least some things hadn't changed.


End file.
